When the brick yards around Peterborough began to close, as the raw material, clay ran out, large "knot holes" were left. Some of these were full of water and some just a blot on the landscape. There would have been more clay to dig out around Peterborough, but over the years houses were built on what could have been clay pits.

The coal fired power stations made tons of ash of a very fine type known as fly-ash. Some were to put this ash was needed. The clay pits around Peterborough were chosen, with transport by rail. Presfro wagons which had been used for cement were what the ash was to be transported in.

As the power stations had merry go round facilities, this was also put in place at the Peterborough end. A new railway line was made from Fletton junction to a plant which then pumped the ash out with water and pumped this slurry which was a semi-liquid mixture of fine ash particles and water into the old clay pits were the ash sunk to the bottom and the water was later pumped away. When the pit was nearly full top soil was placed on the ash. The new Peterborough township of Hampton with its many new houses and a large Tesco store was once clay pits.

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